“GFA IS IDEA DRIVEN”

GFA is a major for students who want to explore their creative vision using a variety of media and approaches to artmaking, rather than focusing on a single, specialized field. As a GFA major, you will work closely with faculty advisors to select courses from any MICA department that will inform your specific area of artistic inquiry. As a result, you will work with a diverse group of artists pursuing a wide range of interests. 

As someone interested in a truly interdisciplinary experience, you will benefit from the facilities at MICA’s Studio Center, a historic industrial building just a short walk from the central campus. Located in Baltimore’s Station North Arts & Entertainment District, it includes independent studio space for upper-division students in Drawing, Painting, and GFA departments. The facility also allows you to rub elbows with MICA’s graduate students and be a part of a strong community of graduate and undergraduate fine artists.

You will receive a range of viewpoints that helps inform the art you create through the visiting artists and critics that visit MICA’s campus. Representing a variety of disciplines, they have included the  filmmaker Amy Halpern, who discussed her experience as a female artist in the experimental film scene; MacArthur Award winner Elizabeth King, Hasan Elahi, an interdisciplinary artist whose work examines issues of surveillance, privacy and migration; Shya Woolfalk, Catherine Murphy, Tshabalala Self.

We also have two McMillian/Stewart Fellows Shoshanna Weinberger and Hadieh Shafie who add to our Diversity Initiative.

You also will have access to a wide range of courses, and we’re constantly adding new ones, such as the course “Hands-on Ideation,” where students combine drawing, painting and hand building with digital tools such as laser cutting, 3D printing, digital embroidering and Adobe Creative Suite.

Our graduates go on to work in a variety of mediums and fields, and they are thriving. Checkout these graduates Instagram  abbijacobson, linktr.ee/abbij, amanilewis_brueyhu, loganhicksny the GFA department Instagram, mica.generalfinearts

Other alumni pursue graduate study at Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

As you can see, it’s a very exciting time for the GFA department. I’m very happy you’ll be joining the MICA community, and I look forward to meeting with you during our Open House.

Sincerely,

Rex R. Stevens

Chair, General Fine Arts